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Consider one further experiment with the
piston-cylinder arrangement of Figure 4. Suppose the cylinder contained 1 lbm of
ice at 0°F, 14.7 psia. When heat is transferred to the
ice, the pressure
remains constant, the specific volume increases slightly,
and the temperature increases until
it reaches 32°F, at which point the ice melts while the
temperature remains constant. In this state
the ice is called a saturated solid. For most substances,
the specific volume increases during this
melting process, but for water the specific volume of the
liquid is less than the specific volume
of the solid. This causes ice to float on water. When all
the ice is melted, any further heat
transfer causes an increase in temperature of the liquid.
The process of melting is also referred
to as fusion. The heat added to melt ice into a
liquid is called the latent heat of fusion.

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